It may have taken 142 witnesses, but the the Commission of Inquiry looking into the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday summoned, as a witness, the individual whose demand became its raison d'etre: Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.
Mr. Panneerselvam has been asked to appear before the Justice (Retd.) A. Arumughaswamy Commission on December 20. Apart from deposing before the judge and the Commission’s standing counsel, he is likely to be cross-examined by lawyers for V.K. Sasikala and Apollo Hospitals the same day. Of the 142 witnesses so far, 135 were summoned as Commission Witnesses and seven were summoned after they submitted petitions.
It was Mr. Panneerselvam, who as Chief Minister, first mooted the idea of a judicial inquiry into the death of the former CM. He made the comments on February 8, 2017 — a day after meditating at Marina Beach and starting an internal revolt in the AIADMK primarily aimed at Sasikala.
This culminated in the August 17, 2017 announcement by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami about appointing a Commission of Inquiry. By then, the issue had snowballed into one of the three public conditions placed by the Panneerselvam-led AIADMK group for the merger of the party factions.
Multiple allegations
Among other things, Mr. Panneerselvam said on February 8 that he was not allowed to meet Jayalalithaa during her 75-day hospitalisation period. He had gone on to make multiple allegations since then — the latest being the one made on September this year, claiming that he had asked Apollo Hospital to take the CM abroad for treatment.
Sources said that the Commission intends to depose Mr. Panneerselvam on three broad issues: the suspicions he raised, his constant presence at the hospital and the vital positions he held, including the portfolios of Jayalalithaa, during the former CM’s hospitalisation.
At various points, lawyers for Sasikala have made it a point to ask witnesses to identify Mr. Panneerselvam’s location vis-a-vis Jayalalithaa’s at the hospital. They have also entered into record his presence at briefings on the then-CM’s health. In her affidavit before the Commission, Sasikala mentioned that when Jayalalithaa was once wheeled out for a diagnostic test, Mr. Panneerselvam was among those standing nearby.
On Thursday, the Commission also announced that it had summoned Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar and AIADMK spokesperson C. Ponnaiyan on December 18. On Friday, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan is scheduled to appear.
“I expect more witnesses who are politicians We would want ministers like Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, P. Thangamani and S.P. Velumani summoned,” said Sasikala’s lawyer N. Raja Senthoor Pandian.